flowers for the dead
by Marquise de Nile
Summary: Mito catches a glimpse into Madara's private thoughts and becomes deeply unsettled by what she finds. (Sequel to dinner for three, can be read as a standalone.)


Summary: Mito catches a glimpse into Madara's private thoughts and becomes deeply unsettled by what she finds.

Note: Sequel to dinner for three. It's not required to read it to understand this story.

Rating: T

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**flowers for the dead**

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_The future of this war-torn nation is looking up_, Uzumaki Mito thought as she was taking a stroll through the busy streets of the new village. Konoha, founded by her husband and its First Hokage, was a symbol of peaceful times that were to come, proving that unity and tightening of the bonds of camaraderie between the previously hostile ninja clans were the right way to go. With the treaty of Senju-Uchiha, the never ending conflict was put to rest and the path to the new era was forged. She could never have been happier to be a part of this change.

But despite all the progress that had been made towards eternal peace, the prickling feeling of unease still didn't leave her. Mito was hesitant to call it paranoia, as she had never harboured any excessive fear about her well-being. Instead, she took it as a warning sent by her subconscious.

Mito had always been highly intuitive, and this sixth sense was only boosted by her strong ability to empathize with other as well as her sensitivity to chakra and its various shades. For many, chakra was invisible unless used in high quantities, when it gave off a blue glow; but for Mito, chakra consisted of a whole spectrum of colours, bright and muted, cheerful and glum, vivid and faint. Sometimes, chakra had even its own distinct flavour, often depending on the elemental affinity of a person. If Mito really concentrated, she could pinpoint the location of any person she knew in the village by their chakra alone.

The person she was looking for, however, left the protective ring of walls that had been erected by Hashirama with his Wood Style techniques. Mito picked up her pace. She didn't want to lose the trail due to the growing distance between her and the one she pursued.

She gave little thought to the thick village walls, though she did feel a touch of pride for her fiance's creation. It must have drained him a lot to grow these sturdy structures and he did it all with the thought for safety of Konoha and its every citizen. Mito had in plans strengthening the walls' security by the addition of an ingenious array of seals she was in the middle of constructing.

Outside the gates, Mito entered the woods and took to the trees, flickering off the branches in a burst of speed. She navigated the confusing terrain with confidence thanks to her well-developed chakra sense. She could see traces of deep blue clinging to places where the person she was following jumped off while using chakra; it was giving off a faint ashy flavour, so characteristic for all fire-users. She was getting close.

The person stopped moving and Mito gradually lost her speed, until she hopped off the treetops and made her way on the ground level with an extra caution. She didn't recognize this remote part of the forest, it was too far away from the river, but she remembered from the maps she had studied that it belonged to the old Uchiha grounds.

Mito saw a break in the trees up ahead, leading to a spacious clearing. She took care to conceal her presence first, before approaching the edge of this empty island in the middle of wilderness.

On the first look, the clearing was roughly circular in shape, the tree stumps being the most conspicuous evidence of a human presence in the area. The patches of scorched sand mixed with glass suggested the practice of fire techniques must have taken place there, while old scratches on the bark told her of hours of weapons training. Mito had figured all of this with just one cursory glance, before her whole attention was riveted to her target.

Uchiha Madara was standing in the middle of the abandoned clearing, a bouquet of white chrysanthemums held loosely in his right hand. His back, usually proudly straightened and rigid, seemed to hunch down under the weight of his thoughts, his shoulders dropping slightly.

Mito didn't move, just quietly observed as he strode to one of the trees and gently laid the flowers beneath it. He knelt and bent his head in prayer. It looked like a private moment for him, so she let her eyes wander away for a minute. _Who are the flowers for?_ she thought as she stared at the patch of yellow buttercups nearby. Madara's heavy aura made her rethink the idea of engaging the man in a serious talk. Maybe it was better to leave him alone for the day. She had hoped to catch him in a better mood.

The Uzumaki princess turned to slip away from the clearing unnoticed.

"Where are you going? Come out here," Madara spoke up, surprising her. Her chakra was concealed, so how did he know she was there?

Mito hesitated briefly.

"I thought you wouldn't want company right now," she said, emerging from the trees.

"If you went to the trouble of following me all the way here, then you must have something important to say. No better time for this than now," Madara replied. She noted the eerie calmness around him. It reminded her of people immersed in a state of deep meditation, however Madara was lucid enough to talk with her. Interesting.

She strode over to his side, peering curiously at his face. His gaze flickered up to meet hers in acknowledgment, then slid down to the tree before him. The Uchiha crest was carved into its rough bark.

"I haven't seen you around since our dinner," she referred to that one time two days ago when she had invited him over to the Hokage mansion to eat with her and Hashirama.

"I was busy."

Somehow, she doubted that, but she didn't voice her reservations about his truthfulness. Mito took a large breath and continued.

"I wanted to apologize. Hashirama and I ignored you half the time, even though you were our guest. I'm sorry for making you so uncomfortable with us. We should have controlled ourselves better, Tobirama always tells us..." Mito paused, realizing that mentioning his brother's killer around Madara probably wasn't a very good idea, but the man didn't react to the name, so she decided to continue anyway, "... to watch our behaviour around others." She bowed. "I'm deeply sorry, Madara-sama."

He only inclined his head in response, showing that he'd been listening. Mito decided that it was better than nothing. At least her conscience was cleared.

She was quietly debating with herself whether she should try to strike up a conversation or leave Madara to his musings, when unexpectedly he spoke of his own volition.

"I used to train here with Izuna."

"Your brother?" Mito asked softly as she sat down next to him. She heard what happened to the younger Uchiha, though only from hearsay. All she knew for sure was that Tobirama wounded him mortally in a battle, however there were also nasty whisperings of Madara's own involvement in his brother's demise.

"Yes. We were just children, but old enough to fight. From all our brothers, only the two of us survived to adulthood. After they were killed, I swore to protect him... Izuna..."

Madara cut himself off, not trusting his voice for a moment, and she could feel the grief pouring out of him. His fingertips traced the lines of the Uchiha crest engraved on the tree. A moment passed.

"He made this with his kunai," Madara said. "I told him not to, that he would blunt the blade. He didn't listen. And now this is all that's left of him – this mark and the eyes."

Mito, who was staying respectfully silent as he talked about his deceased brother, regarded him with a jolt. Madara returned her look evenly, the dark eyes – Izuna's eyes – deep and unreadable.

"You really took them?" she asked before thinking, then instantly regretted it. It was tactless of her.

"That's what they say." Madara wasn't bothered by her slip of a tongue. "It was a gift from Izuna. His last wish." He looked down on his lap and Mito could literally see the shift of emotion take place as his hands balled and expression darkened, jaw clenched.

"Another promise I couldn't keep," he whispered, his poison directed at himself and his shameful inadequacy.

Mito's compassionate heart lurched in her chest, going out to him. She was never the one to ignore someone's pain and, instinctively, her hand was placed on his own, squeezing it lightly in a comforting gesture.

"It's not your fault," she murmured, like the lulling sound of waves on the shore in the distance.

"No! It _is_ my fault!" Madara jerked violently, his hand slipping away from her hold. "I failed him! I failed to protect Izuna. Then I failed to fulfill his last will. He gave me the eternal light, a power no Uchiha before us had ever dreamed of, but I still couldn't bring myself to..." he abruptly broke off.

"To?" Mito followed up.

"... To kill the Senju," Madara admitted with great reluctance. He must have realized telling this to her of all people was too insensitive, even for someone as callous as him.

"You mean Hashirama?" Mito probed unperturbed, hiding her unease at this topic deep within her mind, under lock and key, until she was ready to face it later in the privacy of her thoughts.

Madara nodded shortly and lapsed into silence. While his eyes were glued to the beautiful puffy flowers he had laid out in front of the tree, memorizing every graceful petal and all the little leaves coming from the stems, Mito took the opportunity to study him in a similar manner. His chakra was calming down from its agitated state a moment ago, though the heaviness she had noticed in the very beginning was even more pronounced now. What mutually impressed and astonished her was the raw intensity of his anguish, the wound still open and bleeding despite the passage of time – and yet, before this day, she had never seen these feelings affecting Madara's judgement and actions.

_But for how long would this restraint last?_ Mito pondered, aware of the Uchiha's precarious standing in the village. He needed to make peace with his past, like the other members of his clan had done in order to live in a better future. Otherwise...

A foreboding chill crept down her spine.

… Madara would snap.

And in this worst case scenario the only man capable of stopping the storm of Madara's fury would be Hashirama.

Mito would rather avoid such a tragic turn of events. Therefore, she adopted a different approach to the conversation.

"Would Izuna-san have liked Konoha?" she asked out of the blue.

Madara shot her a strange look. "Does it matter?"

"Please think about this, Madara-sama. Wasn't peace one of his wishes? The safety and protection of your clan? All of that, you achieved by the treaty with the Senju." She almost saw the cogs turning in his head as he considered her words. Biting her lip in uncertainty, she decided to add, "Maybe you didn't fail him like you thought."

"Perhaps..." Madara muttered and she allowed herself to hope that she got through to him.

Too soon.

Madara's lip curled in a bitter smile, resembling more of a grimace. "Perhaps he would have been of the same mind as the rest of our clan. Perhaps he wouldn't have. In both of these instances, he would have still been among the losers."

Mito watched, stunned, as Madara rose to his feet, his expression wiped from the emotion, gaining a faraway look as he gazed at Izuna's mark.

"This unfair world comprises only of winners and losers, whose sacrifices are in the end meaningless. I couldn't see it before, but this is the harsh truth of reality. And in such an imperfect world, a lasting peace doesn't exist."

Winners and losers? Non-existing peace? Mito was honestly shaken by his unsettling diagnosis of the state of the world. It sounded like a blasphemy, the rejection of the very purpose of Konoha, the same village he co-founded, yet in his mouth these words rang true. It couldn't be just his grief speaking, of that she was sure.

With her fears returning to the forefront of her mind, Mito would have asked him for some sort of an explanation, but Madara was already looking at her expectantly, his arm outstretched.

"Come on, Mito-hime. I'll escort you back to Konoha," he offered and she thanked him demurely.

His hand was warm and steady when he helped her to her feet. But all the way home, Mito couldn't get out of the icy grasp of dread, not until the calm reassurance and love she felt in Hashirama's presence soothed her uneasy heart.

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**The End**

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__AN: Thanks for reading. If you can spare a minute, please leave a review :)_ _

__Also, there is a poll on my profile page regarding a future multichapter story and the choices are HashiMito, UchiSaku (with Madara!) or SasuSaku. If you're interested in reading one of these stories, please vote!__


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